"I'm sorry Jon, I was so hungry" is just one of many examples of the "Creepy Garfield" meme. Look before "Creepy Garfield" became a thing, the original comic strip was first published in 1978 and follows the titular character. Garfield is an incredibly lazy, lasagne obsessed cat and the strip deals with his relationships with long-suffering owner Jon and Odie, Jon's pet dog.
Garfield's sardonic humor has seen the comic strip run for over 40 years and the character has spread out to other mediums. This includes TV specials and shows like Garfield And Friends, novels and two live-action films. Bill Murray voiced the character in both movies, though he later revealed he only signed on because the script had Joel Cohen's name on it, which he mistook for Joel Coen (No Country For Old Men) of Coen Brothers fame. While Murray received good reviews for his work, the original film was met with mediocre reviews, with Murray even making a joke about it during his Zombieland cameo; why he returned for 2006's Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties is a mystery though.
A new Garfield movie is currently in development with Mark Dindal (The Emperor's New Groove) attached as director. One thing fans of the lazy kitty may have noticed in recent years is a steady rise in the "Creepy Garfield" meme, which typically reimagines the cat as some type of Lovecraftian monster tormenting Jon. One of the most popular examples is the seriously eerie "I'm sorry Jon I was so hungry" strip by artist Dubblebaby, where Jon walks to find his home covered in a strange pattern - only to realize Garfield has swallowed the entire house.
The "Creepy Garfield" meme began to spread from there, with more fan art morphing the cat into a creature resembling something from John Carpenter's The Thing. Artist William Burke created a number of horrifying "Creepy Garfield" images seemingly inspired by famed Manga artist Junji Ito. In these pictures, Garfield has morphed into a number of shapes, including some kind of spider monster, and is chasing after a terrified Jon in search of some lasagne. In every image, he carries a disturbingly wide grin as Jon cowers in fear.
The "Creepy Garfield" meme only continues to spread, with the William Blake images later being mocked up for a series of brief video clips imagining it as an 8-bit Game Boy title. Since the arrival of the "I'm sorry Jon I was so hungry" strip, the "Creepy Garfield" meme has become ever more creative. It's gotten to the stage where some fans would probably love to see a full-blown horror movie based on the concept, but given the family-friendly nature of the franchise, this is unlikely.